When Dropbox first launched it filled a need most of us probably didn’t even know we had, and now it has become an indispensable tool for keeping files accessible and synced across multiple devices, as well as being a great backup solution.

With that success eventually comes competition. Amazon’s Cloud Drive offers a similar service, but is mostly focused on entertainment such as music and video streaming. However, today a potential true competitor has appeared from security company AVG.

It’s called AVG LiveKive and is described by the company as a “reliable and sophisticated alternative to archiving.” In reality it’s a service that allows you to store any and all files in the cloud while keeping a local copy synchronized on your device, be that a Windows or Mac PC, or some portable device running Android or iOS.

There’s a free 5GB account available to everyone as well as two paid tiers. The first is $49.99 a year and gets you 25GB of storage. The second is $79.99 per year and comes with unlimited storage. Checking the fair use policy confirms that unlimited actually means 500GB, and that this estimate of an upper limit could be revised at any time.

LiveKive not only lets you backup and sync files across multiple computers, it also allows you to share files securely with others just like Dropbox’s Public folder. AVG calls its version a Share Room and rather than sharing download links you share a room link, with the recipient being able to download anything you put in that room.

From looking at the LiveKive site AVG seem to have hidden the free 5GB account very well. The company clearly wants you to pay for this service, but does offer a 30-day trial giving you plenty of time to change your mind before committing for a year.

The price is very competitive when you consider 50GB from Dropbox costs $99, and 100GB costs $199 a year. However, AVG does seem to be more focused on the backup aspects rather than the syncing, so I get the feeling it won’t be as flexible as Dropbox.

If you try out LiveKive let us know what you think and how it compares to Dropbox.